5 Things that Happen when you Become a Landscape Architect

Article by Paul McAtomney We take a look at 5 things that happen when you become a landscape architect. Despite its increasing scope and relevance in 21st-century society, landscape architecture continues to act as a largely unseen profession. It attracts an assemblage of people to its learning; more often than not, individuals coming from diverse backgrounds, later in life. Having recently completed my undergraduate studies as one of those individuals from a diverse background, commencing work in practice, and ruminating on my experiences thus far, I realise I lacked a sound grasp of the physicality of the world as an unversed student. This is not to suggest I am now versed; far from it, in fact. However, there are numerous things I find I do in interpreting and responding to the natural ...Read More

Article by Irmak Bilir The Deck (Patong Beach), by Shma Company Limited, in Phuket, Thailand Who wouldn’t want to spend their vacation in a residence that has a fascinating roof garden with a fantastic swimming pool? Our guess: No one. The Deck Condominium is a low-rise residential development designed by Shma, very near to Patong Beach. It is located in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the southern part of Thailand. Visitors are attracted by the clear, blue skies and white sand beach, as well as the many aquatic activities, which include snorkeling and speed boating. The Deck’s location allows guests to access all the amenities of this vacation resort, but it also has some special qualities of its own. Roof Top Landscape Design Singing the Blues Blue is the dominant c...Read More

Article by Irene Crowo Nielsen The Rehabilitation of the Zsolnay Factory, by Ujirany/New Directions Landscape Architects, Pécs, Hungary Imagine an abandoned factory complex dating back to 1853 in the city of Pécs, Hungary. It is situated next to a railway, contained within a wall. See the big, empty buildings with random broken windows, paint peeling off the walls, and cracks in the pavement, with pioneer willow plantation growing up from them. Not really inviting, right? This describes the post-industrial landscape of the Zsolnay Factory, a symbol of development in the modern age in a city renowned for its Zsolnay porcelain and ceramic-decorated buildings. It has suffered the same fate as so many other factory complexes: abandonment. But, unlike so many other post-industrial landscapes, t...Read More

Article by Moreira Filho KALA – Playground and Green Space in Berlin-Friedrichshain, by Rehwaldt LA, Dresden, Berlin, Germany. There is no time to have fun. Squares are supposed to be places where fun flows naturally. Almost all the projects of squares are directed to teenagers and adults. But what about children and elders? The KALA – Playground and Green Space in Berlin-Friedrichshain project was specially designed for them by Rehwaldt LA, Dresden, and of course, everybody can go there and have fun together. KALA – Playground and Green Space Putting the Site into Context KALA Square is situated in Berlin, among Hildegard Jadamowitz Street, Lasdehner Street and Kadiner Street, close to Frankfurter and Karl Marx Avenues, in the midst of the Friedrichshain district, compos...Read More

Following on in our world series we have selected 10 awesome projects that perfectly represent landscape architecture in France today. The French history of landscape architecture is very influential and famous. It has been formed and changed throughout centuries. You certainly have heard about the French formal garden, or jardin à la française – this style was inspired by idealized romantic landscapes and the paintings of celebrated French painters. No wonder France reminds us of love and romance. But, what about today? What has changed in the present gardens? Let’s see in our selection of 10 contemporary projects from France. 10 Awesome Projects From The France 10. Central garden block B4, by TN Plus, in Boulogne Billancourt, suburbs of Paris Thinking about the future when working ...Read More

Article by Rose Buchanan We take a look at 6 landscape based memorials and what they commemorate and how. Memorials function as places or objects which speak of the memory of an event or person. The most common form is to use a statue or plaque placed at a strategic location. While these memorials provide us with a tangible element of memory, they fail to engage with powerful elements of experience and emotion. One might briefly respond to the image of a fallen soldier cast in iron and take the obligatory snapshot posing in front of it, but moments later that feeling and memory is gone. This is where landscape becomes a powerful element in creating a memorial experience that not only allows the user to become aware of the past, but creates a tangible experience within the present. Landscap...Read More

Article by Eleni Tsirintani We review how a slope was used in the Ladeira da Barroquinha project by METRO ARQUITETOS, Salvador, Brazil. Landscape projects tackle two fundamental states of being; motion and stillness. They usually focus on balancing between these two opposite conditions. However, there are projects that are enjoyed and appreciated only through the act of moving through them. Ladeira da Barroquinha is an efficiently designed pedestrian access in the center of Salvador that embraces human motion and forms a new narrative for walking in the city. Salvador is the capital of Bahia, a large region of Brazil. The sea’s proximity and a unique topography are principal elements of the city. Salvador is a colorful, vibrant city, that preserves, alive, the signs of its past as a Portug...Read More

Article by Farah Afza Jurekh Manlleu Municipal Market, by Comas-Pont arquitectes, Pintor Guàrdia, Manlleu (Barcelona), Spain. We like to socialize. People are drawn towards places where they can interact with others. And the designing of such interactive spaces has always been one of the foci of architects. When the project is in an urban realm, the design of such interactive space can eventually grow as a community hub and can help stimulate the bonding of the neighborhood. Well, this is about one such project. Manlleu Market Located in Pintor Guàrdia, Manlleu (Barcelona), Spain, the municipal market is a fresh-product market designed by Comas-Pont arquitectes. If we take a closer look at this Mediterranean building and its site context, we get to know the importance of urban nodes, conne...Read More

Though the title may beg otherwise, there is nothing “general” about Charles Waldheim’s newest book, Landscape as Urbanism: A General Theory. For many, landscape urbanism is a realm of theoretical design thinking that they believed might never breach into their daily practice. Those unfamiliar with the movement might have once thought Landscape Urbanism was perhaps a new style of design and even might have written it off altogether after seeing the so called Landscape Urbanism Bullshit Generator a while back. I believe, as does Waldheim it seems, that these folks are in fact at the cusp of a evolution of the field and that the urban issues of today are actually often best addressed by the skill sets of those same landscape architects. Those who have kept up with the development of the theo...Read More

Fifty years ago on June 1 and 2, 1966, Ian McHarg, Grady Clay, Campbell Miller, Charles R. Hammond, George E. Patton, and John O. Simonds were convened by the newly formed Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Motivated by a sense of crisis about the environment and its future, they proclaimed the role of the landscape architect as critical to help solve it and drafted and signed a Declaration of Concern outlining a four-pronged strategy to multiply the effectiveness of the limited number of landscape architects and produce more trained people to cope with the future environment they foresaw. This was the 1960s. It was a volatile time and an era of activism. It was an extraordinary time. Rivers were on fire, pesticide use was leading toward a Silent ...Read More

Article by Win Phyo We take a closer look at 10 of the best YouTube tutorials for drawing perspectives by hand Lately at Landscape Architects Network, we have been sharing our finest articles on hand drawing. It is obvious why we have been doing so, isn’t it? We want you to become the best possible designers you can be and become confident in the art of hand drawing. If you are reading this article, hopefully by now you believe that you don’t suck at drawing , know a little thing or two about improving your hand-drawing skills and may even, wait for it, have become a confident artist over the last couple of months! For you folks out there, landscape architecture requires a hefty amount of different technical drawing skills and one of them is drawing in three dimensions. This is a great dra...Read More

Article by Elisa A.M.Varetti 100 Miles 4 Peace, by Paul-Felix Montez; a global project in 100 locations around the world. Have you ever stopped to think how many memorial monuments there are? Every country has its own, related to some global or local tragic event that must be remembered or commemorated as our writer Nick Shannon shows us in his article Poppy Plaza: the landscape of memory and Kaila Johnson in hers article How Gordan Lederer Memorial Makes a Tragedy Beautiful. Memorial monuments remind people what happened and encourage them to hope that similar tragedies never happen again, like Alexandra Antipa shows us in her article How A Symbol of Tragedy Can Encourage People to Look into the Future.   “But what if people were taught how many men and women stood up for globa...Read More